ABAQUS/CAE provides support for most of the elements that are used by ABAQUS/Standard and ABAQUS/Explicit; however, some elements are not supported and must be generated outside the Mesh module. The following list describes the elements that are not supported by ABAQUS/CAE. If you want to assign these element types to a model, you must use a text editor to add them to the input file generated in the Job module. For information on generating the input file, see “Basic steps for analyzing a model,” Section 18.2.1.
Acoustic interface element (ASI1)
Stress/displacement variable node elements (C3D15V, C3D27, etc.)
Note: After you submit the analysis for execution, ABAQUS/Standard automatically converts any C3D20(R)(H) element that is adjacent to a slave surface in a contact pair into the corresponding C3D27(R)(H) element. (Neither element is available in ABAQUS/Explicit.) Otherwise, there is no way to generate variable node hexahedra with ABAQUS/CAE.
Axisymmetric elements with non-axisymmetric response (CAXA4N, CAXA8PN, etc.)
Infinite elements (CIN3D8, CINAX4, etc.)
Pore pressure cohesive elements (COH2D4P, COH3D6P, etc.)
Cylindrical elements (CCL9, MCL6, etc.)
Drag chain elements (DRAG2D and DRAG3D)
Pipe-soil interaction elements (PSI24, PSI34, etc.)
Axisymmetric slide line elements (ISL21A and ISL22A)
Cylindrical surface elements (SFMCL6 and SFMCL9)
Distributing coupling elements (DCOUP2D and DCOUP3D)
Hydrostatic fluid elements (F2D2, F3D4, etc.)
Frame elements (FRAME2D and FRAME3D)
Second-order line spring elements (LS3S and LS6)
Nine-node quadrilateral membrane elements (M3D9 and M3D9R)
Nine-node doubly curved thin shell elements (S9R5)
Coupled temperature-displacement and heat transfer gap elements (GAPUNIT and DGAP)
Hydrostatic fluid link element (FLINK)
Tube-to-tube contact elements (ITT21 and ITT31)
Elastic-plastic joint elements (JOINT2D and JOINT3D)
You cannot assign some elements, such as CONN2D2 and SPRING1 in the Mesh module; however, you can create equivalent connectors in the Interaction module or engineering features in the Property module or Interaction module as shown in Table 17–1:
Table 17–1 ABAQUS/CAE support for connectors and engineering features.
| Elements | ABAQUS/CAE support |
|---|---|
| CONN2D2, CONN3D2 | Equivalent connector in Interaction module |
| DASHPOTA, DASHPOT1, DASHPOT2 | Engineering feature in Property module or Interaction module (linear behavior independent of field variables) |
| Equivalent connector in Interaction module | |
| GAPCYL, GAPSPHER, GAPUNI | Equivalent connector in Interaction module |
| HEATCAP | Engineering feature in Property module or Interaction module |
| ITSCYL, ITSUNI | Equivalent connector in Interaction module |
| JOINTC | Equivalent connector in Interaction module |
| MASS | Engineering feature in Property module or Interaction module |
| ROTARYI | Engineering feature in Property module or Interaction module |
| SPRINGA, SPRING1, SPRING2 | Engineering feature in Property module or Interaction module (linear behavior independent of field variables) |
| Equivalent connector in Interaction module |
For more information, see “Understanding connectors,” Section 15.6; “Modeling inertia,” Section 20.2; and “Modeling springs and dashpots,” Section 20.4.